Daniel Jackson, Immortal
by padawanjedi
Summary: Highlander Crossover  Daniel Jackson is an Immortal. How will his friends and coworkers react when they find out?
1. Chapter 1

Daniel Jackson cradled his arm close to his body, dripping blood on the ramp leading down from the Stargate located underneath Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Most of his concentration was on the cut on his arm, trying to keep it from healing until he could get to Dr. Janet Frasier and the infirmary. So intent was he on this task that he didn't see the petite woman until she spoke.

"What did you do to yourself now?" she scolded. Shaking her head, she glanced at the rest of SG-1 to see if anyone else needed medical attention.

"SG-1 report to the infirmary for post-mission check-up. De-briefing in 1 hour." General Hammond's voice came over the speakers in the gate room. SG-1 turned and headed down the hall.

Dr. Fraiser managed to walk next to Dr. Jackson and spoke quietly to him. "Why is it still bleeding? Are you really okay? Do you need me to do anything?" She fired the questions softly but rapidly.

Daniel chuckled quietly. "It's okay LW. I've mastered the art of NOT healing."

Janet gasped. "You can do that?! Wow!" she marveled.

"Yep. It only took a couple hundred years, too," he replied smugly.

Janet let out a little giggle. "You old guys… geez…"

By this time, the group had reached the infirmary and Dr. Frasier switched into what Daniel called her "General Patton, M.D." persona and started firing orders at her nurses. "Patty, you got Colonel O'Neill, Jen, you take Teal'c, and Natalie, take Major Carter. I've got Dr. Jackson." There were three barely audible sighs of regret at this, but they knew better than to say anything and went to work.

"Do they just not like you giving orders?" Daniel asked, a little confused.

"Hmmm?" Janet looked up from Daniel's chart.

"The nurses – every time we come back from a mission and you hand out who they're checking out, they all look a little, um, depressed. What's up with them?"

Janet laughed out loud at that one. "Oh god, Daniel, I needed that." She tried to get herself back under control, but every time she looked up at Daniel's perplexed, and slightly annoyed expression, she started over again.

Finally, she got herself under control enough to answer him.

"You have no idea, do you? Every single one of my nurses has a crush on you."

"All of them?" Daniel asked, shocked. "Even Evans?" noting the only male nurse on the base.

"Yep – even Evans." Janet grinned mischievously.

"They look so 'depressed' because I never let them do your pre- or post-mission checkups. I always do those."

"Oh great." Daniel sat and thought for a minute. "All of them, huh?" and glanced across the room at the three nurses working on his teammates.

"Oh no you don't!" Janet warned him.

"What?" Daniel asked as innocently as he could. "I'm not going to do anything… much." He smiled a slow, wicked grin.

"No – besides, you're too old for them." She grinned cheekily at him.

"Alright, alright, I'll leave your nurses alone. Boy LW, you never let me have any fun." Daniel pouted a little.

Just then, Jen walked over. "Dr. Frasier, Teal'c checked out okay. Are you ready to sign him out?" She handed Janet the Jaffa's medical chart and Dr. Frasier walked over to verify he was ready to leave.

Jen scooted a little closer to Daniel. "If Dr. Frasier won't let you have any fun, I will." She leaned toward him, her intent obvious.

Daniel, despite his teasing comments to Janet, wasn't really interested in the nurses on the base. "I'm sure you would. But," Before he could find an excuse to turn down the aggressive nurse, Janet returned.

"Jen, don't you have some charts to fill out for me? And I think the cabinets need to be restocked." Janet told her sternly.

"Yes, doctor" With a last seductive look at Daniel, she sauntered away.

Daniel and Janet both shook their heads at the nurse, and catching each other's eyes, grinned and laughed quietly.

"I guess I'll just have to watch my back around here more, huh?" Daniel's eye's twinkled with thought of some of the mischief he could cause his favorite doctor with this new information. "I bet…" suddenly, he broke off as he jumped up and headed for the door, an alert look on his face.

"Oh no, not here?" Janet whispered, realizing what was going on.

"Yes, and an old one, too, that I haven't met in a LONG time…" he trailed off as a tall, grey haired man in an SGC uniform stepped into the infirmary.

"Daniel Jackson, you are going to pay for what you have done! I am the last student of Walter Night and I will have my revenge!" the man spat out this declaration, the menace plain in the soft spoken words.

"Oh, I doubt you'll have much of anything, actually, unless ol' Walt's taught you better than he did everyone else," Daniel said casually, the sarcasm evident. "He obviously wasn't that good to begin with, after all, I beat him didn't I? Besides it would be _sacrilege_ to do anything about it here."

The man did not miss the meaning and emphasis Daniel had placed into that statement, the frustration evident in his tense features.

"Another time then. Your head WILL be mine." He did an about face and strode abruptly from the room and down the hall.

"Bye Marcus!" Daniel called cheerfully to his retreating back.

After seeing that the man had gone, Janet glared at her nurses to get back to work and whirled on Daniel.

"Did you have to bait him like that?! He'll probably be waiting for you when you leave the mountain." She said worriedly.

"Janet," Daniel sighed. "I am not worried about him. Marcus has been trying to kill me for years. He hasn't succeed yet – not completely anyway." He grinned wickedly.

Dr. Fraise let out a reluctant chuckle.

"I know, but…"

"Don't worry about – "

"What the hell was that all about? That guy is trying to kill you?!" Jack O'Neill asked, incredulous.

"Well, yeah" Daniel shrugged. "No big deal. Like I told Janet, he hasn't done it yet, and he's not going to either. And don't go getting all mother-hennish on me either, Jack. I've been dealing with this – and him – for quite a while now." Daniel smiled a little secret smile at his friend.

"But Daniel, if someone's trying to kill you, you should have told us about it. We can help" Samantha Carter put in, a little worried and scared that she'll lose one of her best friends – again.

"I agree DanielJackson. We are more than willing to help rid you of this threat." Teal'c added with a slight inclination of his head.

Daniel pushed up his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Look guys, I appreciate-" He stopped as his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dan! Are you coming down here tonight? We're having a kind of mini-reunion. Mac, Mathos, Rickie, and the gang are coming to town to visit."

Daniel's three friends saw his eyes light up and a big smile spread across his face. "Yes! I'll definitely be there. I haven't seen Mac or Adam in years. What time?"

"Probably around 8:00. And bring Jan, I haven't seen her in a while either."

"Hold on – " Daniel held the phone away from his ear a bit. "Janet?" Janet had walked past SG-1 on her way back to her office, since all post-mission checkups had been completed.

"Hmmm?" she replied, distracted as she double-checked on the charts.

"You want to go to Joe's tonight around 8:00? Apparently most of the gang's going to be there and Joe says he REALLY misses you." Daniel leered comically at Janet.

Janet laughed at his antics and lightly slapped his arm. "Yes, I'll be there, just to try to keep you in line. But I might be a little late – Cassie's school has a PTA meeting tonight at 7:00, so I'll be there as soon as I can." She looked excited at the thought of seeing her old friends again.

Daniel spoke into the phone again "Joe, she'll be there. You better treat my girl right, now." He mock-threatened his friend.

The others could hear a bark of laughter from the phone, "No worries old man! I always treat people who have needles with the utmost respect. Watch your neck!"

Daniel grinned as he disconnected his call.

"Okay, Daniel, enough planning your social life. Why is that guy trying to kill you?"

Daniel immediately sobered. He should have known Jack wouldn't be distracted.

"Look, I appreciate your concern. I'm touched, really, but I like I said, I've been dealing with this guy and his threats for longer than you know, and I obviously have been doing a good job, right?" He smiled a little at the trio of his best friends. "I'm not planning on letting him kill me. Can't you trust me on this?" He pleaded, using what Janet calls his "lost puppy dog" look.

General Hammond chose that moment to come into the infirmary. "Who is trying to kill you, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Why me? Why now?" he muttered under his breath.

He looked up and said "General, it's… personal." He looked hopefully at him, hoping the subject would get dropped.

"Some guy came in here swearing eternal vengeance against Danny-Boy here and he keeps acting like it's not a big deal," Jack filled the General in.

"It's not!" Daniel exclaimed. "Look," he turned to the General again. "This guy has been making threats and following me around for YEARS! He finds me, makes his threats, _maybe_ attempts to kill me, but he fails – every time!" He gestured around near the end of his tirade, then under his breath, "I should have ended all this when I had the chance, but nooooo, I had to give him another shot to turn his life around."

Janet shot him a sympathetic glace, Daniel grinned a little sheepishly in response.

"I guess I'm really just an old softie, huh?"

"Old is right," Janet joked.

Daniel chuckled.

"What is going on here?" the General asked, confused at the by-play between the two doctors. "Nevermind. How did this man get on the base?"

"He looked like a major – although I'd never seen him here before." Sam said thoughtfully. "We had some new teams come to the SGC – we can get those records and see who he is…"

Daniel interrupted her exicted babble. "No." He said quietly and forcefully.

"Whaddya mean, 'no'? This guy wants to KILL you!" Jack responded angrily.

"I mean, I don't want you guys trying to find out about him, I don't want you anywhere near him, actually, but if he's assigned here, I can't do anything about it."

"But I can," General Hammond said. "He'll be gone in a few hours."

"No, please, General," Daniel asked. "Just let him be. I know him – he won't do anything here on base, and he won't do anything to me off base, either, if I have anything to say about it." Daniel grinned again.

"Are you sure Dr. Jackson?" General Hammond asked, searching his face.

"Yes, please, leave this alone."

"Okay, for now. But, if he starts issuing threats again, or causing problems, he's gone."

"I understand, and thank you." Hammond nodded.

"Dr. Fraiser, is SG-1 cleared to de-brief?

"Yes, sir. They're all fine."

"Okay people, de-brief in 10 minutes." With that, the General left the infirmary.

Daniel watched the General leave, then turned a pleading gaze on his friends.

"Alright already. Just quit looking at me like that." Jack rolled his eyes at his friend. "But, get this – if I find that this guy has done ANYTHING, I'm going after him myself and you can't stop me."

"I figured as much, Jack. I know how you are. Just… let it alone for a while, okay?"

"Alright. So, who's Joe?" Jack slung a companiable arm around his shoulders as they left to go to the de-brief.

"Just an old friend of mine. He's got a place downtown that I go to every once in a while. Sometimes they have a decent band and usually some of my old friends, too." He smirked a bit at the hidden meaning there as he answered Jack absently.

"Janet knows them too?"

"Hmmm? Yeah, she and Joe go way back…"

"Good. Good. Let's go tell the General about all the fun we had on the mission, shall we?" He patted Daniel on the shoulder before entering the briefing room, wondering if he can find Joe's place.


	2. Chapter 2

At 7:45, Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Teal'c entered "Joe's" and took a look around.

"Interesting place" said Jack.

"I would never have pictured Daniel coming here," said Sam, eying some of the decidedly dangerous looking patrons at the large table near what looked like a dance floor.

"Nope – me neither. Let's get a table near the floor, out of sight, but close enough to the big one to hear what's going on." Jack led them over to a booth that fit his requirements.

"Perfect. We can see everyone who comes in, everyone at that table, but they'll have to be trying hard to see us. Perfect." Jack smiled.

"What can I getcha honey?" A low female voice asked.

"3 beers please, whatever's on tap, and something to snack on – chips? Pretzels?" Jack answered, glancing at his teammates for confirmation.

"Sure thing, sugar. Be right back." The waitress sauntered off to fill their order.

The three talked quietly about the last movie they had seen together as they unobtrusively scanned the bar.

Then Jack said, "There he is." There was a note of wonder in his voice.

"Wha… Wow! Daniel sure looks different!" Sam exclaimed, looking appreciatively at her friend walking through the bar.

Daniel, wearing black tight fitting pants, and loose white shirt, open at the neck and a long dark coat, had walked quietly into the bar and looked at Joe manning the bar. Joe smiled and held up a bottle. Daniel gave a slight nod, then tilted his head and winked. Joe smiled even bigger and tried not to laugh.

Daniel had played this game before, and since most of the bar was full of regulars, Joe nodded slightly to give his blessing. Daniel broke out a huge smile, then faded back a bit into the shadows near the door.

"Where did he go?" Sam whispered.

"I'm not sure…" Jack trailed off then hissed, "Holy shit!"

Six knives had just been flung into the middle of the large table full of people. Before SG-1 could even react, all of them had pulled swords from out of nowhere and were on their feet, frantically looking around for the source.

"Looking for someone?" Daniel said, leaning calming at the table, holding a bottle of his favorite beer.

Cries of "Dan!", "Daniel!", "Hey old man!" erupted as swords were put away and Daniel was surrounded and hugged and slapped on the back by his oldest friends.

Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at each other in awe, then turned their attention back to the group of obvious friends. Teal'c, who had been observing the other patrons in the bar stated, "This behavior does not seem to be unusual to the others in this place."

Jack and Sam looked around as well, shocked that everyone else in the bar seemed very relaxed and pretty much ignoring what was happening.

"What the hell has Danny been hiding?"

Meanwhile, Daniel had seated himself in the middle of the group with his back to the rest of SG-1 and was currently talking animatedly with his friends.

SG-1 had sat quietly watching the group for close to an hour when Sam suddenly sucked in a breath, "Oh my God!" Jack responded "What? What?!" while frantically looking around for what had spooked Sam. He had gotten a little bored with watching the group at the other table, since all they were doing was talking, laughing and drinking.

He finally spotted her – a petite woman crouched in the doorway of the bar, a knife in her hand, looking intently at the large table of people in the center of the room. Before any of them could react, the knife was flying through the air end over end on a direct path to Daniel's head. The trio of friends were half out of their seats when they saw Daniel, without turning his head, without a pause in his conversation, snatch the knife out of the air by it's hilt, flip it to hold it by the blade and send it back the way it came.

Jack and Sam's jaws dropped in shock. At that moment, Joe stopped by their table to see if they needed anything else, since their waitress had ended her shift already. He chuckled at their expressions. "Yeah, Daniel's caused that reaction quite a few times to newcomers. How's everything? Do you folks need anything else?"

Jack and Sam ignored him and leaned around to watch the lovely young woman launch herself laughing at Daniel. Daniel gently caught her, spun her around, kissed her cheek and set her down.

"Katie! I didn't know you were coming! How've you been? Where've you been?" Daniel fired all his questions at the girl, smiling widely the whole time.

"Hey teach! I've been pretty good. I'm usually in Boston nowadays – I'm teaching High School, can you believe it!" She grinned at her old mentor and hugged him again. "Hey – I learned something new in Japan a few years ago, wanna see?

Daniel eyed her and raised his eyebrows – "New huh? Are you so sure?" He smirked.

"Look, just because you haven't seen anything REALLY new in a long time old man, " she started, exasperated.

"Hey, I keep telling you younger folks – history repeats itself, over and over and over…" he trailed off as the others continued in unison " and over and over and over!" They all broke up laughing.

Daniel smiled indulgently at them and turned back to Katie.

"So Katherine, you think you are ready to teach the teacher, huh?" His eyebrow went up again as he crossed his arms and leaned back against the table.

"Yep" she said, arrogantly.

Daniel tweaked her nose. "You are getting cocky in your old age. Hey Joe!" He called.

"Yes, Daniel?" Joe sighed, long-suffering, knowing what was coming.

"Can we dance?" he looked at Joe expectantly.

"Ummm…." Before he could answer the other patrons shouted out "Yes! Say yes Joe!"

Joe grinned, "Of course – just don't make a mess like last time." He warned.

"Of course not" Daniel said innocently and added under his breath "It will be a completely different mess this time."

"I heard that!" Joe called back good-naturedly.

Daniel chuckled and looked at Kate. "Are you sure you want to do this now?" He asked quietly, remembering what happened last time.

"Yes. I'll be fine. I've grown up a lot since then" She answered, at first seriously, then with a wicked gleam in her eye added, "Scared old man? Afraid I might be better than you since I have some new moves now?"

Daniel just smiled and said as he took off his coat and drew his sword, "Let's dance."

Katherine and Daniel took their places in the center of the floor while the rest of the bar made sure they had a good view of the coming action.

The two combatants bowed formally to each other, then went into a fighting stance and circled each other. At the first clash of metal on metal, it was obvious that the two were both very skilled in swordsmanship. It was also obvious that Daniel was almost entirely on the offensive and that Kate was getting a bit frustrated as she couldn't seem to go on the offensive to her old teacher.

Finally, she got fed up and yelled "Wait a minute!" after blocking another attach from Daniel. She stepped back and panted a bit. Daniel dropped his sword to his side and said "Yes?" calmly and looked at his former student expectantly. "You're doing very well, you know. I'm impressed. You would have let a lot of those get you in the past." Daniel smiled encouragingly at Kate, who scowled in response. "Gee, thanks." Then she almost whined, "But I haven't been able to show you what I learned yet! It's a really cool attack!"

Daniel chuckled a bit. "Okay, fine. Go ahead, attack me!" He taunted her a bit as he smirked, leaving his sword at this side, but ready.

Kate just firmed her mouth and then began her attack. It was actually a very complicated and effective maneuver, and if she had been using against anyone else probably would have guaranteed her a certain victory. Unfortunately, it was against Daniel Jackson, who had a lot more experience than most people at sword fighting, and as he liked to point out, "there's nothing new under the sun." It so happens that he was one who created this particular attack several hundred years ago, and therefore also knew exactly how to counter it.

After letting Kate attack him for a few minutes, Daniel decided he had let her play long enough and counter-attacked fiercely enough to put Kate on the ground and Daniel's sword at her neck.

"Do you yield?" He asked pleasantly.

"Yes." She said grudgingly. He offered her a hand up, and as she stood up, she said, "How did you do that? The master who taught me that said there was no way to counter it."

Daniel leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I lied." As he pulled back he smirked at her expression, before turning to the rest of the bar and said, "So, anyone else want to take advantage of the fact that Joe's going to let us play tonight?"

Before anyone else could answer, a cold voice said, "Play, Daniel? I do not think what I am going to do to you is considered 'playing'"

Everyone turned to see a tall, distinguished looking man standing at the entryway to the bar holding a sword tightly in his hand.

Daniel calmly said, "Hello Frank. Wasn't expecting you to show up tonight." He added with a slight smile, "It really is a reunion, huh?"

Frank only tightened his hold on his sword and said, "I challenge you, Daniel Jackson. Are you going to accept, or just run away again?" He sneered this last part at the younger-looking man in front of him.

"Frank, Frank, Frank…" Daniel sadly shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you? I had really hoped you might pull you head out of your ass and stop this kind of thing after last time, but I guess you're just a slow learner."

"Do you accept the challenge?" Frank yelled out, knuckles white from gripping his sword, and eyes a little wild.

Daniel looked directly into the older-looking man's eyes and said sadly and quietly, "Yes." He quickly added, "But you may want to wait until we get everyone else out of here, first. You don't want to lose your prize if you win, do you?" He mocked him.

"All right. Clear out of here, now!" Frank barked at the others in the bar.

Daniel nodded at Joe and his other friends. "Please, just get them all out of here." Then, he suddenly turned to the three at the back booth, "Jack, Sam, T – Murray, could you help with clearing this place, please?" He looked pleadingly at his friends, hoping they would do as he asked.

His friends from Stargate Command looked a little shocked at the request, but after a quick, silent look, decided to do as he asked.

"All right everyone, this is a US Air Force situation. Please leave or I will be forced to arrest you or shoot you, and none of us want that." Jack pulled out his sidearm to show he meant business, as did Sam and T'ealc. At this, most of the people left immediately, with only Daniel's friends still in place, although they were obviously ready to battle, if need be.

Joe walked over to the group of people from the center table and spoke softly to them.

Then, as they started to head towards the back of the establishment, Joe strode over to SG-1. "If you want to stay, you can come with me." He said this quietly then went to the door half hidden at the back of the bar the rest of them had went through.

The trio looked at each other then silently followed the barkeep up a short flight of stairs that ended at what was basically an observation deck for the duel going on in the main part of the bar.

One of Daniel's friends, Duncan McCloud, known affectionately as Mac, was looking down at the pair of men fighting below him. "What the hell is he doing? That guy isn't any good – why hasn't he finished it yet?"

Jack walked over to stand next to him and asked "What do you mean?" Then as he watched the two men on the floor below, realized what he was talking about.

"He's just toying with him. I guess he really just wanted to play," Trevor smirked as he watched from the other side of Mac.

"Was that what he was doing to me?" Kate asked, kind of hurt.

"Nope," Mac replied without taking his eyes off the battle in front of him. "With you, he was giving you a more real fight. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but he was still holding back with you, too, but not much. Give yourself a few more years and he'll give you the real deal. He likes you too much to do that when you're not ready." He glanced up quickly and flashed a quick smile at the young lady.

"I know, you're right," she sighed. "It's just frustrating sometimes knowing that he always wins, and he seems to know everything!"

"Well, he has been around the block a few hundred times…" Trevor grinned at his little joke, which caused a small burst of laughter from most of the people in the room, and confused looks from the rest of SG-1.

"Oh no!" Sam exclaimed, pointing at Janet Fraiser, who had unknowingly just walked into the scene.

Joe immediately ran for the stairs to bring her up with the rest of them before the two combatants could see her.

"Why is Frank here? I thought he had agreed to leave Daniel alone for a while after last time…" she trailed off after spotted Jack, Sam and T'ealc gaping at her.

"Janet, what the hell is going on with Daniel? When did he learn the sword thing? How long have you know about this?" Jack exploded at her, frustrated and beginning to get angry because he didn't have a clue what was going on, and the Daniel he was seeing tonight was very different from the man he thought was one of his best friends.

"I can't tell you anything Jack. That is completely up to Daniel. It is, after all, his story." Janet calmly replied.

Joe snickered at bit at her last statement. Janet whirled on him. "Don't think you're blameless in this, buster. I know you probably started this by letting them 'dance' in the first place." She fumed a bit, before stepping up to the window to see for herself how her favorite "old guy" was doing. She visibly relaxed after watching for a few seconds. "Oh, well, I guess you're off the hook this time, Joe."

Joe smiled, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, before giving her a light kiss on her temple. "I know, sweetie. I'm not stupid enough to endanger your favorite old man."

Jack, Sam and T'ealc looked even more confused after this exchange.

"What are you talking about… did you know Daniel can fight like this?" Sam asked, incredulous.

"Yes." Janet answered simply as she watched the fight going on intently. "Oh, he's getting ready to finish it now – I think he's bored." She said this with a slight smile in her voice.

Down below, Daniel was indeed getting a little bored with the fight he was currently involved in. He decided that he had let Frank do this long enough – it was cutting into his reunion time. Suddenly, Daniel moved almost faster than the eye could follow and disarmed his opponent and had his sword at his neck. "I'm really sorry about this, Frank, I really had higher hopes for you." With that, Daniel quickly swung the sword back and sliced cleanly through Frank's neck. As the lightning of the quickening erupted, Daniel stood still and absorbed it. Afterwards, he dropped to one knee briefly, breathing hard as everyone came back down the stairs into the main part of the bar.

"Oh, hey guys," Daniel said, giving a small smile to the crowd around him.

Standing up and glancing at his teammates he said, "I guess you guys have a few questions for me, huh?" Before they could respond, he hurried on with, "I will talk to you guys, really, but can it wait for a little bit? I would like to spend a little more time with my other friends. How about we go back to my place when we're done here? That'll give me more time with my friends, and I promise I'll answer any questions I can." Only Janet noticed how he phrased that statement, and the meaning it implied.

Reluctantly, the other members of SG-1 nodded, then walked back over to their table to finish their drinks and try to comprehend what was going on.

Meanwhile, all the others gathered back at the large table, a bit more subdued. Then someone cracked a joke, and the entire table erupted in laughter and things were more cheerful after that.

Daniel, for his part, was back to his original place in the table, right in the middle of everything, talking and laughing with his oldest friends.

As she watched them, Sam noticed something. "Do you see how everyone always seems to stop what they're doing to listen whenever Daniel says anything? It's like he's their leader, no… more like the patriarch of the group." She mused almost to herself.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jack asked, looking closer at the group in the middle of the bar.

He sat and observed for a few minutes. She was right. Everyone would be talking in little groups, and Daniel sat in the middle of it, mostly just watching and listening. But when he decided to talk, everyone just turned and listened intently to whatever he had to say, even if it didn't have anything to do with what they particular conversation was about, or if it was pretty meaningless. They even did this when he ordered another round for everyone, including the trio at the other table, or when he just made little aside comments aloud to himself.

After a while, Daniel rose and made ready to leave. He received hugs, handshakes or kisses from everyone there as he made his way out of the bar. He met up with Jack, Sam and Teal'c at the door. He smiled a little, at them staring at him, then opened the door and sighed. "Okay, let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Back at Daniel's, he let them into his house and headed for the kitchen. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use some coffee. Anyone else?"

"Sure."

"Yes, please."

"No, thank you."

"Yeah."

Daniel started the coffee brewing and stood for a minute. Janet walked in to see him standing tense, arms braced on the counter, head down and eyes closed.

"I don't think I'm ready for this, Janet. What if they hate me now? What if they decide they can't trust me anymore? What if I lose them, because they found out what I am? I don't want to lose them, LW. They're the best friends I've ever had." He gave a small smile. "And that's saying something."

Janet smiled back. "I know. And I don't think you'll lose anything with them. They're just confused right now."

"She's right, you know." Jack said as he and the others came into the room. "We aren't going to hate you. We just want to know what's going on."

Sam and Teal'c nodded in agreement.

Daniel looked at them sadly and nodded. "Okay, let's go back in the living room. I think you're going to need to sit down for this." He turned and grabbed some mugs, filled them with coffee, handed them out and lead them back into the other room.

After everyone was comfortable, he began.

"First of all, I'm not 35 like you think. I'm actually a lot older… a whole lot older, in fact. I'm not even really sure how old I am…I never really cared that much, to be honest."

"Well, I know you're over 6,000, but other than that, I don't know either," Janet chimed in.

"Really? I figured you would know." Daniel looked surprised.

"Nope, the records don't go back that far. You were around before us, you know," she answered.

"That's true. Like I said, it wasn't that important. I usually just tell those who want to know that I'm 6000 and leave it at that."

During this, the other occupants of the room look incredulous at the two doctors discussing his age.

"You're kidding, right? You can't be 6000 years old." Jack sputtered out.

"Why not? I'm an Immortal. I can be, and am, over 6000 years old." Daniel replied calmly.

"Immortal? But you died! Several times, in fact," Sam put in.

"But did I stay dead?" Daniel smirked.

"Well, no… but what about when you ascended?" Sam asked.

"That was the closest I've come to actually being dead. I didn't even know I could ascend. The Stargate gave me a lot of new experiences, actually," Daniel mused.

"So… were all your friends tonight Immortal, too? And did that guy you decapitated really die, or is he coming back, too?" Jack asked.

"Some of them are Immortal, some are not." Daniel answered. "He is dead, and he won't be coming back." Daniel said, a bit sadly.

"If he is an Immortal, how can he be dead?" Teal'c asked.

"The only way an Immortal can be killed is by decapitation. It releases their quickening, which is then absorbed by the closest Immortal. That would have been me tonight." Daniel answered. Before they could ask, he hurried on with "The quickening is what makes us Immortal. It's a kind of energy that all Immortals have that contains our knowledge and bits of our personality and memories. When a quickening is absorbed, you also get some of the person, too. So the more quickenings you get, the more knowledge, power, etc, you will have. That's why some Immortals will try to kill others. When one challenges you, you have the option of rejecting their challenge, and most will honor that to a degree. By that I mean, they might not try to kill you, but they will probably not respect you much and will taunt and belittle you. I know this from experience." Daniel said. "But, others will offer the "challenge" then, regardless of your intentions, will attack you anyway. Another bit of experience."

Jack started, "So, I'm assuming that major this morning was another Immortal." Daniel nodded. "Then, why didn't he fight with you?"

"Ahh… a loophole." Daniel smiled, his first real smile since the challenge earlier. "If you challenge an Immortal on holy ground, the quickening cannot be absorbed. And, the SGC is built on what used to be a church. At least it was a church in the way the ancient people about 4000 years ago thought of one."

"Well, that's handy for when you're at work, anyway." Jack said, thoughtfully. "Unless, someone decides that they just want you dead, and to hell with the quickening."

"That is a risk, I suppose, but since I'm not going out trying to stir up trouble with other Immortals, why would they want to do that? Most of them just want my quickening, anyway." Daniel shrugged.

"It seemed that the man this morning wanted more than your quickening this morning, DanielJackson. He sounded like he wanted revenge." Teal'c stated.

"Yeah," Daniel sighed and pushed his glasses up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit he had when he was a bit frustrated. "He was taught about being Immortal from a man named Walter Night, who, incidentally, I had taught for a bit, years ago. But, Walt decided that I was little too passive, and he wanted to get some quickenings and became a hunter." At their confused looks, he clarified, "A hunter is an Immortal who goes looking for other Immortals just to kill them and get their quickenings. Walter had heard about the Game and wanted to win." Daniel look up, then went on at their increasingly perplexed looks. "The Game is something an Immortal before even my time came up with. Apparently, it's theme is 'There can be only one.' And the goal is to kill every other Immortal so you're the last one. The prize is supposed to be the ultimate power, or to rule the world, or some other such nonsense. I never participated, and really ignored most of what I heard about it. I don't want to rule the world, anyway. Too much paperwork." Daniel grinned and the others let out a surprised laugh at Daniel borrowing one of Jack's favorite complaints.

"Okay, so now we know about you… how does Janet fit into this?" Sam asked, glancing at her friend.

"Actually, I let Janet tell you what she wants to about that." Daniel replied, looking at his friend.

"I'm Daniel's Watcher." Janet stated simply.

At Jack, Sam and Teal'c's stunned and confused faces, Daniel chuckled quietly. "I think you can do better than that, LW."

"Oh, alright… A Watcher is discretely supposed to watch his Immortal and record his life. USUALLY, the Immortal doesn't know who his Watcher is, and MOST don't even know we exist. But Daniel, being an annoyingly curious and alert old guy, found me out my first day on the job." She glared at him.

Daniel just smiled at her.

"Ohh… you're so aggravating some times…" She sighed and continued on. "Daniel's had so many Watchers, and I think he's known about all of them…"

"Of course. I actually started the whole thing." Daniel smiled into his coffee after dropping that bombshell.

"WHAT?!?" Janet shrieked.

"Yup. I decided that we really need some recorded history of what we do, and I didn't really want to go around following other Immortals myself, so I figured this was the best way. Plus, I know that someone besides the Immortals knows about us, and the Watchers are for the most part impartial with their accounts. Present company excepted, of course." Daniel nodded at Janet.

"Are you saying I'm not doing my job correctly, Doctor Jackson?" She stood over him and glared her best at him.

"Of course not," he countered smoothly. "You do a fabulous job. I'm just saying you're not impartial. Joe isn't either." He added.

She deflated a bit. "You're right." She smiled, then, "but I don't think most of your Watchers were impartial, either. If you ever read what they wrote, you can tell they are usually rooting for you to win, and they seem to like you a lot. Especially the females." Janet grinned a little wickedly at him.

Daniel blushed and looked down, then glanced up again and grinned just as wickedly at Janet. "Even you?" He smirked at her.

"Of course not," she shot back. "I know you too well now." Then they both started to laugh.

Jack and Sam smiled a little, not really knowing what was so funny, but enjoying seeing their friends happy.

"If we could get back to the subject at hand…" Jack said.

"Right, sorry." Daniel got himself back under control. "Actually, I don't think there's much else to tell you. I'm Immortal, Janet's a Watcher, there are some people that want to take my head…" Daniel ticked off each of these on his fingers as he said them. "Yep, that's pretty much it, unless you have some questions…" He looked expectantly at the surprised faces of his friends.

"That's pretty much it?!" Jack mocked him. "That's an awful lot! For crying out loud!" He threw his hands up in the air and started to pace around the room.

Daniel looked a little apologetic. "Sorry. I get a little, umm, flippant, about things sometimes... Remember, I've been dealing with this a _lot_ longer than you have." He pointed out.

"We know, Daniel, but it's a lot for us to take in." Sam reassured him, taking his hand.

"It's a little hard to believe, even after seeing you with that sword, and lopping off that guy's head…" She paled a bit, and tightened her hold on his hand.

Daniel squeezed back and gently smiled at her. "I understand. But, really, there was nothing to worry about…"

"Nothing to worry about! That guy looked like he could pick you up and snap you in two without a thought!" Jack exploded again.

"Hmph!" Janet snorted.

"What?" Jack whirled on her.

"Frank couldn't slice his way out of a paper bag. Didn't you see him trying to fight with Daniel? He could barely hold his sword right! Hmph," Janet snorted softly again.

Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at Janet in surprise. Daniel was beginning to think their faces were going to be permanently stuck that way, and smiled to himself at the thought.


End file.
